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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia this week held the inaugural session of the bilateral consultations on “security issues” in Asia in Islamabad, the Pakistani foreign office said on Friday, amid shifting regional alliances.

The consultations were held between Aleksei Ovchinnikov, director-general for Asia and Pacific cooperation at the Russian foreign ministry, and Ambassador Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan’s additional foreign secretary for arms control, disarmament and international security who is also the spokesperson of the foreign ministry in Islamabad.

The two sides exchanged views on the current security situation in the Asia-Pacific region and related matters, including potential areas of collaboration, and discussed “challenges associated with various regional alliances and partnerships,” according to the Pakistani foreign office.

“Both sides agreed to hold this dialogue on annual basis,” the foreign office said in a statement. “Pakistan greatly values dialogue and diplomacy and remains committed to pursuing cooperative pathways that promote peace and stability in the region and beyond.”

The development comes amid India’s deepening ties with the United States-led QUAD alliance, which also includes Japan and Australia and aims to counter China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific. Russia, on the other hand, has forged and deepened alliances with the likes of China, Iran, North Korea and several African countries amid its invasion of Ukraine.

Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have warmed up to each other in recent years through regular political, business, trade and defense interactions.

In Sept., Pakistan and Russia conducted a joint military exercise that focused on drone warfare among other things, the Pakistani military said. The development came as militants in Pakistan started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country’s northwest, police say, in a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region.

It also followed a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India in May that saw the large-scale use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), fighter jets and artillery, leaving nearly 70 people dead on both sides. The Russia-Pakistan exercise came ahead of the Indian military’s plans to test drone and counter drone systems in a major exercise to toughen its air defenses.